Robert m



(No Model.)y

R. M. APPLETON.

SOCK 0R STOGKING.

No. 454,634. Patented June 23,1891. y

Wnasses ZFrz/vemof l dma mm1/m UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

ROBERT M. APPLETON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

socK'oR sToCKlNc.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 454,634, dated June 23, 1891.

Application iiled January 5 1891. Serial No. 376,734. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT M. APPLETON, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, and a resident of Boston, Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Socks and Stockings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to socks and stockings having what are known as seamless heels and the object of my invention is to make a sock or stocking of this class in which the body of the foot is of less diameter than the leg, but in which'there is ample room in the heel and across the instep` This object I attain in the manner hereinafter set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figures 1,2, 3, and 'et are diagrams illustrating successive stages in the manufacture of a stocking in accordance with my invention. Fig. 5 is a view of the foot and ankle portion of the completed stocking, and Figs. G and 7 are views'illustratinga modification of the invention.

In making socks or stockings having what are known as seamless heels in accordance -with the present practice it is usual to knit the leg-tube upon a circular-knitting machine having latch-needles until sufficient length of tube has been made to form the leg. A certain number of needles are then thrown out of action and a pocket or bulge is formed upon the tube by knitting to and fro upon the remaining needles, dropping out of action successively needle after needle at the ends of the fashioning set, and then bringing these needles successively into action again in reverse order, the result being that a graduallynarrowed web is iirst produced and then a graduallywidened web, the stitches at the edges of these webs being seamlessly united along the meeting line, so as to produce a surplus of fabric in the form of a pocket or bulge upon one-half of the tube. Vhen this bulge or pocket has been completed, the remaining needles of the head are thrown into action and round-and-round knitting is resumed for the formation of the foot-tube, a like pocket or bulge being formed for the toe when the foot-tube hasbeen completed. The objection to this plan is that the tube forming the body of the foot is necessarily of as great a diameter as the tube forming the leg, whereas in a properly-proportioned stocking the foot-tube shouldV be of considerably less diameter than the leg-tube. If, on the other hand, the toe, foot, heel, and ankle are formed on a small machine and the ankle-tube united to alarger leg-tube, from which the surplus is trimmed off andv the opening closed, the heel and the space across the instep are too small.

In carrying out my invention, therefore, with the view of forming such a smaller foottube without unduly contracting the heel and instep, I proceed in the following manner:

The knitting operation is carried on as usual for the formation of the leg-tube A and the pocket or bulge c, as shown in Fig. l; but instead of then proceeding to form the tube for the body of the foot I simply form beyond the heel-pocket a short tubular section b, as shown in Fig. 2, the work being then cast off of the needles of the machine, so as to form around the lower edge of the tube a row of stitches', the tube b thus constituting an instep-zone b on the stocking in advance of the heel, as shown in Fig. 3. So many of the stitches a: as can be accommodated by the needles of a smaller machine are then runv onto the said needles stitch for stitch, the surplus portions of the web being preferably disposed at opposite sides of the heel in the form of projecting pockets d, as shown in'Fig. 4t. For instance, supposing that the machine upon which the leg-tube was knitted contained one hundred and iifty needles, while the machine upon which it is proposed to knit the foot-tube contains but one hundred and twenty needles, the stitches x may be run` upon the needles of the smaller machine until, say, thirty stitches on each side of the center of the instep, or sixty lstitches in all, have been applied to the needles of the smaller machine, whereupon fifteen stitches on each side may then be grouped orbunched to form the pocket d, thus leaving sixty stitches to be run onto the remaining sixty needles of the small head, upon which the knitting of the foot-tube is then proceeded with, a seamless pocket or any other desired form of closure of said tube being employed to form the toe. A line of stitches is run along the base of each of the side pockets d, and said pockets are trimmed off either before, during, or after the formation of said lines of stitches, so that in the Iinished stocking there will simply be a short seam f on each side of the stocking in advance of the heel, as shown in Fig. 5, the presence of the seams at these points being unobjectionable, or, if desired, the formation, sewing, and trimming of the pockets cl may precede the running of the stitches a: onto the needles of the smaller head. As the stitches x are run onto said needles stitch for stitch, there will be a seamless union of the foot-tube with the instep-zone b', and as the pockets d are tapering the number of stitches in the successive courses in this zone will Vary-that is to say, lsupposing the number of needles in the two machines to be as before given, there will be in the course at the rear or heel end of the zone b one hundred and fifty stitches, while in the course at the front or foot end of said zone there will be but one hundred and twenty stitches.

It is preferable to so form the pockets d that the seams f will extend to the upper ends of the lines g, representing the joinings'` of the narrowed and widened webs forming the heel-pocket, although this is not absolutely essential, nor is it essential that the pockets cl should in all cases be formed on the opposite sides of the heel, although this location is, as before stated, the preferable one.

In Figs. G and 7, for instance, I have illustrated a modification of my invention, in which the surplus stitches of the zone Zi are bunched at one point at the bottom of said consisting in first knitting the leg-tube and forming a pocket or bulge upon a portion of the same, knittingv a tubular section beyond the pocket or bulge, then running onto the needles of a smaller machine stitch for stitch as many of the stitches at the end of said tube as said needles will accommodate, bunching the surplus web, and closing the pocket or pockets thereby formed, substantially as specified.

2. The mode herein described of making a stocking having a seamless heel and a foottube of less diameter than the leg,said mode consisting in first knitting the leg-tube with a seamlessbulge or pocket upon one side, forming a tubular section beyond said pocket, running upon the needles of a smaller 'machine as many stitches at the end of this tube as the needles will accommodate stitch for stitch, and bunching the Asurplus fabric at opposite points, so as to form two pockets `or projections and closing these pockets,sub

stantially as specied.

3. A sock or stocking having a seamless bulge or pocket heel, a foot-tube of smaller diameter than the leg-tube, and an instepzone in advance of the heel, having courses of stitches graduated in length from those ot' the v foot-tube to those of the leg-tube, and a seam or seams extending from the heel to the foottube across said instep-zone, substantially as specified.

4:. A sockor stocking having a seamless bulge or pocket heel, a foot-tube of les's dialneter than the leg, and an instep-zoiie in advance of the heel, having courses ot stitches graduated in length from those of the foottube to those of the leg-tube, and short seams on opposite sides extending across the instepzone, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses ROBERT M. APPLETON.

Xlfitnesses:

J AMES R. MURPHY, MICHAEL J. Moons. 

